Feedback System on eBay Could Use Improvements

Quite frankly, as an eBay buyer-only, I've been burned too many times
by sellers who attempt to blackmail buyers into leaving positive
feedback for sellers.

In the past three years, I've made about 100 eBay purchases and I have
always left positive feedback where deserved, which means I have
posted exactly one negative feedback -- to a seller who didn't send
the item I purchased, refused to communicate and was finally "forced"
under eBay's policies to refund my money. All the other purchases
rated 5 stars across the board and got them from me.

I always pay via PayPal, and the longest I have ever delayed in paying
was just under 12 hours -- the auction ended late evening and I didn't
transmit the PayPal payment until the next morning.

From my point of view, my responsibilities to the seller end when I
have completed payment. The seller's responsibilities end when s/he
has sent my item. I always e-mail the seller when the item arrives.

Nowadays, however, sellers tell you AFTER you win an auction and are
committed to paying that they only leave feedback AFTER the buyer
leaves them positive feedback. No positive feedback, then the seller
won't leave you feedback. It's purely a case of blackmail on the part
of the seller.

If I ever buy on eBay again, when I send my payment I will include my
own notice to the seller: if I haven't received positive feedback from
them within 10 days after I notify them I have received the item, I
will leave them negative feedback for their attempted blackmail.

Feedback goes both ways. I know of many eBay sites where buyers are
not welcome if they don't have a certain number of purchases or a
certain number of positive feedbacks. Refusing to give the positive
feedback the buyer deserves is as wrong as demanding positive feedback
from them.

I'm sorry that there are dishonest people in the world that try to
ruin everything for the rest of us, but as a buyer something like this
kinda protects us a little. Maybe ebay should prominently post a ratio
for buyers, ie, out of 100 items they only received 30 positive
feebacks or something.

I was really badly burned once as a buyer. I ordered an item as a gift
and paid for it promptly. After two weeks, I emailed the seller asking
when it would arrive. S/he told me that they were sorry but they were
out of stock on that item and would refund my money. As a result, I
left nuetral--not negative--feedback saying that they had
misadvertised having an item. (It was a regular auction, not a store
or buy it now). They turned around and left negative feedback, saying
I hadn't paid for my item.!!! I was so mad, I asked them to remove it
since that was totally false. S/he wrote back and said they would if
I'd remove mine!

I wrote ebay about this but they said there was nothing they could do.
That kinda ruined the idea of the feedback program, since from then on
I had no idea whether or not buyers were manipulated into removing
negative feedback from a seller.

My opinion should be that the number of unpaid item strikes a buyer
has should be made public, along with the dollar amount and item
title.

For example, among all the positive feedback could be a red
highlighted box that says

***"UNPAID ITEM STRIKE! "supercute blue hoodie w/ sparkles from a&f
sz. s L@@K!!!" $25.71 12/8/08***

It includes all the details, including the typical tacky eBay title,
price, and date.

Interesting letter. I've mostly been avoiding eBay these days, but I
definitely think you have some good points - and you did a good job
explaining them and putting together a good suggestion letter. :)

I agree that mandatory feedback - or at least a reminder, would be
great. I always like to leave feedback (usually positive), but
sometimes get distracted or just plain forget. ^_^ It'd be nice if x
number of days past a purchase, I received a follow up email saying
"hey, go leave feedback!"

I also understand the reasoning behind the only positive feedback on
buyers, but I wish they would find a way to at least allow neutral
feedback, or some type of non-positive comments. I think it's pretty
obvious (and bound to occur) that both buyers and sellers will
misbehave, and it's unfair if only the sellers are docked for it.

Good letter!

I didn't look at all the posts, so I'm sorry if someone said this
already, but looking at my DH's ebay feedback page, it says you CAN
leave whatever feedback you want, you just have to wait seven days
(They want you to try to work it out first). So I'm confused, is this
a planned change? Because it doesn't seem to have been implemented
yet.

I'm a seller with closing in on 1400 feedback. I have to agree;
they're actively trying to chase small sellers like me off the site.
They forget that small individual sellers are what built them in the
first place, and what really feeds the beast. The buyers are going to
take a hike too, the ones not already chased off by Chinese
counterfeit merchants (which is a whole new rant), going where the
merchandise is. Some of us stick around because there's no viable
alternative yet.

As soon as Google gets around to starting an auction site (and you'd
better believe the idea has been floated) I'm casper. A lot of
antique dealers and jewelry dealers are already gone. They're off to
their own websites, other venues, closed down entirely.

Ebay's new CEO has big plans to revamp Ebay into an "Amazon Lite". He
was quoted as saying that Ebay is "too much like a flea market" and
his intention is to drive small sellers, who are what made Ebay so
successful, and to move to becoming more of a Wal-Mart like online
store.

The first step was raising FVF's and listing fees, then creating a
feedback system buyer based, which is more akin to shoppers leaving
feedback on here than a typical online forum of bidders and winners.

Ebay wants you and I to GO AWAY. Even Power Sellers are being treated
like yesterday's newspaper. Have you seen their stock price lately?
Mr. Donohoe is working overtime to crash this ride so he can rebuild
and reshape it into what he wants it to be.

and enjoy Craigslist while it's still unmolested, Ebay owns a part of
it too...only a matter of time before Donohoe takes that over too.

There is an issue with FREE SHIPPING. Looking at the DSR's...if you
receive free shipping, some buyers have marked a FOUR STAR....thinking
it was a good thing. Actually that can drive your rating down.

Your rating drops so low & you're suspended for 30 days.

I've used ebay only two or three times in my life, so I find all this
technical information interesting. I think donno has provided some
info as well. I like this exchange.

I like the idea of mandatory feedback--I think people like me, who
hardly ever use the site, should have to provide some feedback. It
would never occur to me to return to the site to do so.

Great letter.

I am going to try to stay on target. There are a lot of aspects of
Ebay buying/selling, and I see a few others in the other comments.

I have about 100 purchases and 100 sales on Ebay. I have one
negative, as a buyer, that was completely undeserved. The seller sent
me a damaged item, refused to admit it was damaged going into the box,
and as they had done with other buyers, left a retalitory feedback
after I left a negative. I saw it coming before I left the negative,
given the seller's history, but I "took one on the chin" for other
unsuspecting buyers. Eventually that seller stopped selling on Ebay,
after enough buyers left negatives.

I understand what you mean about slow payments, not to mention NPB,
but I pretty much support the "no negatives for buyers" switch after
my experience. I think they must have decided to handle NPB more
vigilantly, and you know 2-3 weeks isn't the end of the world. Yes,
if you do hundreds of transactions a week, keeping track of slow
bidders isn't fun, but since I used to only accept checks/MO, 1-2
weeks doesn't mean much to me.

It is interesting what Bill found below - they have begun limiting
what you can write in the comment relative to the rating you leave. I
admit leaving "slow to pay" would be a nice option, which appears to
no longer be possible. I'm glad Bill posted that, because I didn't
know about that or the other new changes in this area.

As far as feedback being mandatory, well, *not* leaving it is one way
a trading partner has to let the other know they could do better next
time. I have done that when I didn't want to leave a negative.

They must have looked at this carefully before making the changes, I
think. Given the number of transactions they have on any given day,
I'm sure they didn't do it lightly. I have to admit, all the changes
that have taken place make it difficult for me to keep track, as my
trading has slowed.

This is good letter. As I said, I think they thought pretty carefully
about the change, but giving feedback will help them understand how it
affects the user.

I will leave the feedback meaningless-blocked bidder anyway. They may
slap me on the wrist, but it will be worth it if only one seller
escapes this buyer. I have talked to 4 different sellers and this
buyer has done the same or very similar to each of us. Ebay does not
seem to care or simply cannot discern the pattern. It was not until I
told her I was going to file police reports and report her for
internet fraud did she back down and do the right thing.

I understand your frustration, trust me! However, please be aware ebay
ban you from selling if you get sanctioned for improper feedback one
too many times.

I agree with you, ebay is wrong not to allow us to leave HONEST
feedback for buyers who run game on us, however, IMHO, it is not worth
me losing my ability to sell over.

Several other sites are cropping up and several that have been around
a while are starting to really pick up. I am waiting to see which one
does best, then will be moving there.

Lynn,

I too am a regular eBay seller and I understand your concern with the
"enhancements" to the Feedback System.

My issue with eBay and recent changes is the mandate to use PayPal.
Case in point this week I sold a christmas ornament for $ 71.00. The
fee to use PayPal was $ 2.57. The fee to get a check from PayPal was
$ 1.50. In the good old days I could take Money Orders and Personal
Checks.

Stop back when you hear back.

BillR.